Music Salon Series to present Liao and Koch October 10

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Pianist Dr. Yu-Hsuan Liao, assistant professor of music at Shepherd University, and saxophonist Jeremy Koch, an adjunct faculty member in music, are scheduled to perform “Arresting Developments,” the second concert in Shepherd University’s Music Salon Series, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 in W.H. Shipley Recital Hall in the Frank Center.

The program examines works that are influenced by a variety of genres and redeveloped into a representation of the source material, including a Balinese gamelan, a romantic canzone, a pit orchestra, a Zappa-esque rock jam, and more. It is the story of a jealous saxophone that had little repertoire and how it stole from composers worldwide to make its music more interesting.

Liao received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Tung-Hai University and her master’s and doctoral degrees of musical arts in piano performance from University of Texas at Austin. She is a piano soloist, collaborative artist, and music educator. She has expanded her repertoire in instrumental, chamber, vocal, and choral music in various styles and periods.

The Taipei, Taiwan, native worked with American Repertory Ensemble and performed piano solo, chamber, and accompanying vocal music in the company’s performance series. Her solo performance with A.R.E. was nominated for best instrumentalist in the Austin Critics Table Award for the 2008-09 season. She gave a piano lecture-recital based on her published book “Manuel de Falla’s Cuatro Piezas Espanoles: Combinations and Transformations of the Spanish Folk Modes” and a solo piano performance in composers’ new composition concert at the College Music Society conference in 2010.

Liao is an active member of the West Virginia Music Teachers Association and has been granted the National Certification for Teacher of Music by Music Teachers National Association. She joined the Shepherd faculty in 2011 as director of keyboard studies. She regularly gives master classes and is in high demand for adjudication at festivals and competitions around the West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. region.

Koch is a saxophonist, chamber musician, and teacher based in the Washington, D.C. area. He has been a member of the United States Air Force Band since 1998 where he has been a featured concert soloist on national tours and has performed with Tony Bennett, Wynonna Judd, and Kool & theGang. He performs with the United States Air Force Saxophone Quartet, Reed5, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Prince William Symphony Orchestra, Serapis Ensemble, D.C. Syndicate, and Great Noise Ensemble.

He presents clinics and recitals throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. He has premiered solo and saxophone quartet works at numerous conferences of the World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, International Saxophone Symposium, and the American Composers Forum. He can be heard on America’s Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Volume III performing John Howell Morrison’s “Light Possessing Darkness.” He formed a new music duo, Six Impossible Things, which commissions and encourages young composers by introducing these works to the general public.

Koch received a bachelor of music performance from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he was a two-time concerto competition winner. He received a master of music performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he performed with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, Prairie Ensemble, and Estilo Chicago.

The Shepherd University Music Salon Series concerts are open to the public. Admission is free with donations suggested. For more information call 304-876-5555 or go to www.shepherd.edu/musicweb.